Fat Face

Fat Face is a British lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer, based in Hampshire. It was founded in 1988 by Tim Slade and Jules Leaver as a business selling T-shirts at ski resorts.[2][3] The company opened its first retail shop in 1993; as of 2014 there were 209 Fat Face stores in the UK and Ireland.[4][1]

Fat Face
TypeClothing & Accessories
Key people
ProductsClothing
Footwear
Accessories
Revenue 200 million GBP (2013)[1]
OwnerBridgepoint Capital (55%)
Tim Slade (6%)
Jules Leaver (6%)
Fat Face Employees (13%)
Other (20%)
Websitewww.fatface.com
For the style of typeface, see fat face typefaces.
Fat Face, Putney Exchange, London (now closed)

History

The business was founded in 1988 in French ski resort Méribel by Tim Slade, a former policeman, and business graduate Jules Leaver. The pair bought T-shirts wholesale, had them printed with designs specific to the resort, and sold them to other skiers on the slopes - at first using the proceeds only to fund their own skiing.[3] They spent the following years travelling to different ski resorts, where they continued to produce and sell ski and outdoor-related clothing.[3] In 1993 they opened their first shop, on London's Fulham Road; they named it "Fat Face" after the Face de Bellevarde slope in Val-d'Isère.[3][4] In 2000, they sold 40% of the company to Livingbridge for £5 million.[5] In 2005 Advent International, a private equity company, bought Livingbridge's interest in FatFace.[6]

In 2007 Fat Face was acquired, for £360 million, by private equity group Bridgepoint Capital;[7] the sale netted Slade and Leaver £90 million.[8] The company's sales were badly hit by the Great Recession, forcing Bridgepoint to write off half the company's value,[8] but improved in 2010 and again in 2011,[9] and Fat Face returned to a small profit in 2012. Bridgepoint planned to float a quarter of the company on the London stock exchange in 2014, hoping to raise £110 million, but later cancelled the flotation due to lack of confidence by prospective stockholders.[1][7]

The Chief Executive is Liz Evans, who joined in March 2019 replacing Anthony Thompson.[10] Evans had previously run Oasis/Warehouse.[10] In 2013 Bridgepoint hired former Marks and Spencer Chief Executive Stuart Rose to be FatFace's Chairman; Rose replaced Alan Giles as Chairman.[11]

References
  1. Gareth Mackie (10 July 2014). "Fat Face profits rise despite flotation u-turn". The Scotsman. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  2. James Hall (22 January 2010). "Asda clothing boss Anthony Thompson defects to Fat Face". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  3. Lina Saigol, Andrea Felsted (20 January 2014). "The ski bums who understood the bottom line". Financial Times. Retrieved 14 July 2014.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  4. Jonathan Prynn (2 September 2004). "Fat Face pair could scoop £35m". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  5. "Isis set to land £20m in Fat Face market listing". The Scotsman. 7 February 2004. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  6. "Fat Face bought". Retail Week. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  7. Scott Campbell (9 July 2014). "Fat Face reports sales rise after abandoned IPO plans". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  8. Richard Fletcher (15 March 2010). "Fat Face loses £225m on write-offs". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  9. "Fat Face : company profile". Retail Week. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  10. Singh, Prachi (18 October 2018). "Liz Evans to join Fat Face as CEO in January 2019". fashionunited.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  11. Jahshan, Elias (15 April 2019). "Lord Rose warns Mike Ashley over retail "oligopoly" ambitions". www.retailgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
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